Officers from around Indiana converge for Evansville SWAT school

MOLLY BARTELS / COURIER & PRESS
Members of various law enforcement agencies from around the state work with K-9 dog, Gonzo, to take down a suspect during SWAT scenario training at the old North High School building in Evansville on Thursday. Instructors say that it's beneficial for different departments to train together so if a large scale event occurs, officers will have already worked together as a team in different situations.

Patrick McDonald, who works in narcotics for the Evansville Police Department, left, goes over a plan for entry with the rest of his team members during SWAT scenario training at the old North High School building. The teams work with K-9 dogs, experience hostage and suicide scenarios and go over their training performance with experienced instructors.

EVANSVILLE - A banging comes at the door and a voice shouts "police department, search warrant." Five SWAT members storm the room, subduing one suspect and pursuing another. Shots ring out and the suspect is brought out, jacket smeared with splotches of red, blue and yellow paint.

This was the scene at the old North High School on Thursday, as part of a basic SWAT school hosted by the Evansville Police Department. Deputy Steve Bragg of the Madison County sheriff's department and new participant in EPD's SWAT school said seeing how different SWAT teams handle the same situations is a useful exercise.

"I know what I know," Bragg said. "I want to know what they know."

Thirty officers from around the state are taking part in the 40-hour weeklong program. EPD public information officer Sgt. Jason Cullum said the object of the school is to make SWAT members interchangeable.

"You stick any officer into any scenario with any other guys that have been through this training and everybody operates on the same techniques and the same style," Cullum said.

The old high school on Stringtown Road serves as a close substitute to many real-life situations. Cullum said the old school is big enough to run multiple scenarios at the same time, and is perfect for a school-shooting scenario.

"When you deal with a hallway and a series of doors it can simulate an office building, a courthouse, an apartment complex or anything like that," Cullum said.

Exercises range from classroom discussions of operations to hostage situations, warrant servicing, room clearings and K-9 apprehensions. Officers use Sim-u-nitions, a realistic paintball gun that closely represents the actual weight, sound and kick of weapons used by officers in the field. Cullum said the program properly prepares any law enforcement officer to handle drastic situations.

"When you leave here, you can fall in with a SWAT team and do a tactical operation," Cullum said. "This starts from zero and gets you up to speed."

Only five of the 30 officers participating in the program are from Evansville. The other 25 travel from across the state to attend the SWAT school. Bragg said there are tactics found in the program that he plans to take back and implement in Madison County. He said there were things he wouldn't have learned if not for experiencing the situations firsthand.

"There are a million ways to skin a cat," Bragg said. "All you really need is the cat."